Diesel and petrol car sales slump amid oil price surge

Michael McAleer

Sales of new diesel cars fell 37 per cent in March compared with the same month last year, while petrol car sales dropped 38 per cent, amid soaring pump prices. EV sales, by contrast, grew 52 per cent, according to figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI).

Diesel, which a decade ago had a 70 per cent share of the new car market, now accounts for just 12.9 per cent this year.

Regular hybrids are now the best-selling powertrain, comprising 28 per cent of sales, ahead of all-electric cars with 21.6 per cent. Petrol has a 21.2 per cent share, while plug-in hybrids are on 14.9 per cent.

Overall, new car sales so far this year are up just 0.3 per cent at 64,967 vehicles. However, March sales fell 10.5 per cent to 15,485, wiping out much of the growth recorded during the first two months of the year.

Meanwhile, used imports are up 40 per cent this year to 23,646, with the majority of these cars now more than five years old. Japan is the biggest source market, accounting for 13,022 imports, compared to 3,429 from the UK.

Toyota remains the best-selling new car brand with 8,936 registrations this year, reflecting its dominance of the hybrid market. Volkswagen is second with 6,521, followed by Hyundai with 6,210. Skoda is fourth with 5,753 and Kia fifth with 5,172.

Of the five best-selling brands, only Kia has recorded growth this year. Toyota sales are down 8.4 per cent.

There was better news for other brands. BYD has almost doubled sales year on year, with 2,031 registrations, driven by the popularity of its Seal U plug-in hybrid. Citroen has recorded 99 per cent growth, while Opel is up 32 per cent following the arrival of its new Frontera crossover. Similar growth has been recorded by Seat offshoot Cupra.

In contrast, Porsche is down 42 per cent so far this year, while DS is down 59 per cent. Smart has recorded just one registration to date. Brands yet to register any new passenger car sales include Jaguar, Subaru, and Ineos, the automotive brand owned by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, though it did record two commercial vehicle registrations.

Audi is the best-selling premium brand with 2,387 sales, ahead of BMW with 2,275 and Mercedes-Benz with 1,673. BMW sales are down 5.7 per cent, while its Mini brand has fallen 22 per cent to 300 registrations.

Toyota’s Yaris Cross is the best-selling model with 2,425 registrations, ahead of Hyundai’s Tucson on 2,219 and Kia’s Sportage on 1,995.

Toyota dominates the regular hybrid market, with four of the five best-selling models in that category coming from the Japanese brand. The best-selling EV is Volkswagen’s ID.4, followed by Kia’s EV3 and the Hyundai Inster. In the plug-in hybrid segment, Hyundai’s Tucson leads BYD’s Seal U. In diesel, Skoda’s Kodiaq is ahead of the Volkswagen Tiguan and Skoda Octavia.

Car sales in Dublin are down 4.5 per cent to 24,167, but there has been growth of six per cent in both Cork (7,749) and Kildare (2,981), three per cent in Galway to 2,721 and five per cent in Limerick to 2,225.

Viewing the new vehicle sales as a bellwether for economic activity, the hire drive market is down 5 per cent at 6,007, new truck sales are down 6.5 per cent at 971, but registrations of new light commercial vehicles are up 17.5 per cent to 15,654.

Grey remains the colour of choice for new Irish cars, but sales of green cars are growing, now closing in on red for the title of Ireland’s fifth favourite new car colour.